Douglas Dunbar

Douglas Dunbar was born and raised in a small gold-mining community Bralorne, high in the coast mountains- North of Whistler and Pemberton. He does his carving at his summer cabin on Gunn Lake nearby, and then retreats to the Lower Mainland for winters. He started his training at University of British Columbia where he received his Arts/Science degree in 1969 and thereafter explored the techniques of water colour painting, pen and ink and charcoal drawing.

He first began experimenting with soapstone carving in 1974 at Gunn Lake, and later worked with wood, clay, bronze, and iron. The love of stone expanded when he built a large stone fireplace in his log home. In 1981 he returned to UBC to study Industrial Arts teaching, taking courses in design, drafting, woodwork, metalwork, and sculpture. This was followed with a period of primarily doing ornamental ironwork, and metal sculpture. In 2002 he returned to stone carving, and continues with it today.

The choice of stone is both local, and from around the world, including South America, and Africa, consisting of marble, soapstone, alabaster, pyrophylite, and serpentine. The finished pieces range in size from one pound up to 400 pounds.

He lets the stone, with it's natural shape and colour, dictate the design which will follow. This invariably results in a true personification of consistent patterns repeated throughout Nature. He first roughs out the piece with power tools, finishing up with hand tools , sanding and polishing with a paste wax. He also does figurative pieces, usually animals, working from a good photo, and accepts commissions.

Artist Statement

My creations are primarily abstract, and heavily influenced by the Nature that surrounds me; the mountains, lakes, rivers, forests, plants and animals. The work is both organic and primordial in look and feel, reflecting plant and animal motifs, with influences from the earth, air, and water. I let the stone with its natural shape and colour dictate the design which will follow. This invariably results in a true personification of consistent patterns repeated throughout Nature. Using this flow of energy, and incorporating aspects of my own personality, the results are both alive, and uniquely individualistic. As I work, the shapes come out on their own, as though they already exist, and just need to be released. One never knows the true colour of the work until the wax is applied, so it's very exciting.